Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc has acquired another 2.95 million shares in Occidental Petroleum, bringing its stake in the U.S. oil producer’s common stock to nearly 29%.
According to a regulatory filing, Berkshire disclosed that it paid about $176 million in three separate purchases of Occidental shares since Thursday. These acquisitions gave Berkshire approximately 255.3 million Occidental common shares, worth around $15.37 billion on Monday.
Berkshire’s purchases this month have totaled 5.5 million shares. In August 2022, the company won U.S. regulatory approval to buy up to 50% of Occidental, but Buffett has stated that Berkshire has no plans to acquire the Houston-based company.
Analysts and investors have suggested that an acquisition could diversify Berkshire’s energy portfolio, which includes several utilities, electricity distributors, and renewable power projects. Occidental Petroleum itself acquired Permian shale oil producer CrownRock in a $12 billion deal last year to boost its presence in the largest U.S. oilfield.
In addition to the common stock, Buffett also owns warrants to purchase another 83.5 million Occidental shares at $59.62 per share, below the company’s closing price of $60.20 on Monday.
Occidental shares have gained about 1% so far this year and were marginally up in premarket trading on Tuesday.